


Thorns

by Player_1



Series: Ephemer the Graveyard Janitor [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Implied/Mentioned blood and injury, Janitor Theory, KH2 canon divergent(?), Keyblade Graveyard (Kingdom Hearts), Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Phantom pain(?), Twilight Thorn is Ephemer's Nobody, Union X speculations/spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-24 20:24:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20712017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Player_1/pseuds/Player_1
Summary: It kept digging into my skull no matter what I did. My beating heart, writhing lungs, burning limbs, every time I breathed, every time I screamed...





	Thorns

**Author's Note:**

> KH3 Ultimania: When a Nobody is destroyed, along with the Heartless, the reformed Somebody retains the mortal injury the Nobody was inflicted with.
> 
> Me, currently writing this story: Won't that be **fun**?****  
:)  
(Little bit of reference for [the theory](https://player1isgreat.tumblr.com/post/186703431991/ephemer-the-graveyard-janitor) btw)

Out of everything that was happening to me, this is _not _how I want my summer to be remembered by. Stolen pictures, a stolen _word, _these weird noodly people, this Keyblade, and now..._this._  
I hastily dodged another stream of barbed wire, flitting through the abyss I unfortunately found myself in; dancing an extremely dangerous tango with this hulking monster.

As much as I wanted this to be a dream, I just need to find out _why..._Why is this happening to me?  
Why can't I just have a normal week of summer?  
And why in the world is this monster rocking that scarf more than I ever could?  
Even if it's writhing around this darkness like a nest of snakes, far more lively than that empty canvas of a face, it was a lot more human than those walking rubber bands.

But testing my luck, as I was ignoring the immediate threat in this place, a flash of light blinded me, my limbs suddenly pulled by invisible strings. My stomach dropped as the altitude was realized, both my legs and arms held in place like I'm on display.  
With that said, the creature slithered through the air like it was underwater, stopping short of my face.   
_It's going to kill me, I know it..._   
Even so, I uselessly thrashed my arms, hoping to get a swing with the Key still in my hand. 

_  
'...Ven, is that you?'_

The rush of static almost drowned out my pounding heart, setting a malicious fury in my eyes. By some sick miracle, the magic brace on my arm broke free, whacking the monster clear in the noggin. Just like those tinier rubber-band people, it was sent sailing into the void, spinning about like a haywire top as it sent a smile on my face.

_That will show you for messing with m-_

It stopped, completely frozen once more, and in an instant, its arms _stretched_; those giant mitts called hands feeling incredibly close to crushing every bone in my body.   
I flew, the wind rushing in my ears, and I saw its hand ready to crush me like a grape. Somehow, my body seemed to act on instinct, flipping through the air and swinging the blade directly at its head.

It met the glass-stained floor with a thump, quickly slinking to the edge as I miraculously landed on my feet.   
_Come on dream...Just let me get this over with..._

As with answering my unspoken plea with a laugh, the platform rumbled, almost sending me into the void if I didn't stab the Key into the glass. That thing didn't seem to quit, not until it wanted me dead, letting that giant ball of light and doom come speeding right at me.   
_It's either him or me...Well, I don't want to end my summer as a charred corpse._

While it might have been my fight-or-flight response or my weird brain hatching brilliant plans in the midst of death, but throwing my weapon at the giant murder ball made it bounce back...and _explode._  
The mortifying sound of bones snapping and a possibly broken neck rang out through the barren void, sending my muscles into hyperdrive as _no, _I'm not the one being crippled, but that thing _definitely is._

I didn't matter as it writhed hopelessly on the floor, barely getting enough strength to lift its arms, even as I was wailing the Keyblade into its head, giving it the mercy of death.  
_Just let me wake up, right here and now, and just let me have a normal summer...It's the least I can do..._

Finally, after my muscles cried for rest and my vision clearing of this fog, the monster vanished in a flurry of smoke and thorns.  
Finally, it was all over...

* * *

It felt like my head was being split open.  
  
One minute I was minding my own business, returning the Keyblades of old to their rightful place, the next I was shrieking like a mad-man, my stomach doing somersaults as I tried to not spill my guts out.   
The horrifying sun burned my skin as it was drenched in sweat, fingers entangled in my hair but _no, I'm not bleeding, why would I be bleeding?  
It must be a headache, a really really bad one, I just know i- _

Another scream tore from my throat as the pain ricochetted through my entire body, every single fiber of myself unraveling as the thorns of agony kept digging deeper and deeper...I didn't know what I was doing but I didn't _care. _  
It kept digging into my skull no matter what I did.  
My beating heart, writhing lungs, burning limbs, every time I breathed, every time I screamed; this Darkness wormed straight into my soul, destroying me from the inside-out.

Finally, with nothing to hear but the static in my heart, muscles turning to stone, my vision betrayed me, leaving nothing to see but the soothing abyss.  
Finally, there was the Darkness of sleep, and it was all over... 


End file.
